ANITOU 



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T T T ^. ^ \ ^ V ' V: T ^ ^> I IT ABOVE THE CLO UDS. X^ ^1^1^ 







TlTv!m!LrvTc!i::^!.AlT"sUNRISE FROM PIKE'S PEAK. K^I^ I. ^ I^ ^ ^^ ^I^M^ J ^^ 




SUAND 

RocK Route 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Cliap.E5-1ir Copyright ^'o.. 
Shelf._£51.. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



'^^ OF Co;vq 
'^ RECEIVED 

" JUN 6 1«»8 



''- ':>i-PA-B'T^ 




::,^ 



MoiiDtain; 



PUBLISHED BY 
THE PASSENGER DEPARTMENT 

V OF THE 

CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILWAY. 



1696. 



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7988 



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GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE, 



COPYRIGHT, 1898, 

BY JOHN SEBASTIAN, 

CHICAGO. 



POOLE BROS., 

PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS 

CHICAGO. 




,al/'' and the 

Vlodotaips 



Introbiictorg, 



Summer is not far away, and with its 
periodical advent will come an almost 
universal consideration of that important 
question: "Whither shall we go to avoid torrid 
weather and to seek needed rest and recreation?" 
Already it is an impending problem in many households, and each 
succeeding season only adds to the number of those who are on the 
lookout for the vacation period — the year's idle day, when care, and 
toil and responsibility do not stare them in the face, and the per- 
plexities of business may be lost in rational enjoyment. 

To all such pleasure seekers the resorts of Colorado extend an 
invitation that may be accepted with profit and advantage, and the 
Great Rock Island Route offers unsurpassed means of transporta- 
tion all the way. From the most central point of travel in the United 
States, it is now an easy journey by this well-known road to the 
choicest spots and shrines that nature ever provided in her fairest 
moods, and the entire trip may be made without a moment of fatigue 
and under the most favorable surroundings. 

Beginning at Chicago this modern overland line passes through 
most of the states of the middle west, with branches extending to 
the north and south, and convenient connections with the principal 
railroads from the leading cities of the east; so that tourists from all 
parts of the country are really placed 
in almost direct communicatioi 
with the unending variety of 
natural beauty so prodigally 
displayed in Colorado, each 
place of interest being read- 
ily accessible every day in 
the year, at limited cost, 
and the minimum of time 
and trouble. 

The benefits and per- 
sonal delights of a season 
in the Rocky Mountain district 




IN THE GARDEN OF THE GODS, 




need not be enlarged upon 
to those who are already 
familiar with the subject, 
but to the summer traveler 
who may this year desire to 
enjoy his first experience in 
that direction, no words are 
too strong to convey a true 
idea of the pleasure in store 
' for him. It can only be 
realized by intimate ac- 
quaintance, but once real- 
ized it is sure to be re- 
peated as often as the 
opportunity may be pre- 
sented. 

No attempt will be 
made in this publica- 
tion to portray in 
language the charms 
of the numerous sum- 
mer resorts in and about 
[anitou. The only pur- 
■^ i^ pose this brief and glan- 

cing account can serve will 
be to furnish the reader a mere 
hint of their extent and variety. 
Colorado offers something entirely 
■*'--. new, much that is sublime, and 
nothing that is not agreeable 
to the visitor. Many tourists spend years 
in wandering over European scenes of travel, 
not half so rich in historical associations, and immeasurably beneath 
in picturesque novelty, the vigorous young state that stands as a 
dividing ridge between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Its moun- 
tains, springs, gorges, rivers, peaks, canons, falls, lakes, and groves 
contrast magnificently with the greatest attractions the world can 
show. And such is the enterprise and commercial spirit of the 



NEAR HALF-WAY HOUSE. 




people, that beautiful cities have been 
founded, excellent roads constructed, 
costly improvements completed, and 
numerous resorts established, which 
. , .■ ; are as comfortable, well appointed 
icl;^Jfi^l:MH;it.ifi1JHl;{infra >^ and luxurious as any of the famous 

watering places in New England or 
the south, or in the Old World. 
Better than all else, the Colorado resorts possess features 
not to be found in any other locality. They afford a fresh field, a 
constantly changing picture, a health-giving experience, a different 
adventure. The Rock Island Route goes all the way, with the best 
facilities and conveniences for observation, and the highest standard 
of railway comfort. 

Without presenting the arguments and technicalities of a tedious 
scientific discussion, it is sufficient to state that all the conditions of 
health, rest and recreation are found in Colorado. To the invalid there 
is a diversity of altitude, coupled with a dry, exhilarating mountain 
air. To the convalescent there is the tonic effect of a bracing climate, 
without its rigors. To the depressed business or professional man, 
the tired-out housewife or teacher, there is an atmosphere filled with 
ozone; cool nights all summer long, and the cheeriest of sunshine day 
after day. It natu- 
rally follows from 
these favorable con- 
ditions that both 
body and mind arc 
constantly stimula- 
ted, and the health 
and spirits of the 
visitor revived even 
upon a brief trial of 
their curative pro]) 
erties. 

To the sight-seer, 
no other locality can 
boast a tithe of the 
attractions to be ^_^__^ 

MOONLIGHT. BROADMOOR CASINO AND CHEYENNE LAKE. 





COZY COTTAGES SKIRTING MANITOU. 



found in Colorado. The scientist and student will find many mar- 
vels to engage their attention. The hunter and sportsman need 
look no further. Game is plentiful in the parks and forests, trout 
and other fish are abundant in the mountain streams. Camping 
parties may be formed at Manitou or any of the resorts, thus giving 
tourists a closer communion with nature and a closer devotion to 
rod and gun. 



fiDanttou, 

The learned Webster has neither given this word a place in the 
language, nor defined its meaning; yet we know that it is generally 
accepted as the name given by the aborigines to the Great Spirit; 
and that it is also applied to things which pass the comprehension of 
the savage, or by some unusual trait or mystery excite his wonder. 
Natural objects may be thus designated, rather perhaps as the abid- 
ing place or locality of the spirit than as being the spirit itself; and 




hence the phenomenon of a thermal sprmg 
ifotl surprising by its heated waters, or a foun- 

^] and the tain agitated by escaping gas, may, to the 

loiJOtaiQS barbarian of other days have had the 
character of Manitou, as a thing to be 
approached with reverence and to be held 
sacred. So for many generations these springs 
were Manitou to the Indians; and among the trap- 
pers and other fair-skinned wanderers in this romantic region they 
have been held in equal esteem, if not in equal awe and reverence. 
In presenting the attractions of Manitou the springs require no 
extensive mention, for though of more value than any of the elements 
which make up this charming resort, they are already by far the best 
known. The most important springs are the soda group, comprising 
the Manitou (doubtless the largest soda spring in the world), the 
Navajo and the Shoshone; and the iron group, composed of the Ute 
and Little Chief. The former lie in a large and beautiful park in 
the center of the town, and the latter in Engleman's Glen. Alto- 
gether there are fourteen springs, and no two of them are alike in 
chemical analysis. 

Concerning the vague ideas of reverence associated with these 
fountains of mystery by the savages who first knew them, it may be 
of interest to repeat the legend as related by Capt. George Ruxton, 
an officer of the British army, who, in 1846-7, made a tour of the 
district, and spent many days in the valley of Fontaine qui Bouille, 
or, as we vernacularize it. Fountain Creek. Capt. Ruxton says: 

" The Indians regard with awe the 'medicine' waters of these foun- 
tains, as being the abode of a spirit who breathes through the trans- 
parent waters, and thus, by his exhalations, causes the perturbation 
of its surface. The Arapahoes especially attribute to this water-god 
the power of ordaining the success or failure of their expeditions, 
and as their braves pass by the mysterious springs, when in search 
of their hereditary enemies, the Utes, they never fail to bestow their 
votive offering upon the water-spirit, in order to propitiate the Mani- 
tou of the fountain, and insure a fortunate issue to their path of war. 
Thus, at the time of my visit, the basin of the springs was filled with 
beads, wampum, and pieces of red cloth and knives, while the sur- 
rounding trees were hung with strips of deerskin cloth and moccasins. 



The 'signs,' too, around the spring, showed that a war dance had 
been executed by the braves." 

Of the scene of his most ecstatic enjoyment Captain Ruxton thus 
discourses: 

"Never was there such a paradise for the hunter as this lone and 
solitary spot. The shelving prairie, at the bottom of which the 
springs are situated, is entirely surrounded by rugged mountains, and 
affords a safe pasture to animals, which would hardly care to wander 
from such feeding and the salitrose rocks they love so well ta lick. 

Immediately overhead. Pike's 
Peak, at an elevation of four- 
teen thousand feet above the 
sea, towers high intothe clouds; 
while from the fountains, like 
a gigantic amphitheater, ridge 
after ridge, clothed in pine and 
cedar, rises and meets the stu- 
pendous mass of mountains, 
well called ' Rocky,' which 
stretch far away north and 
southward, their gigantic peaks 
being visible above the strata 
of clouds." 

Our adventurer, game as a 
true Briton, passing the night 
in solitary camp at the foun- 
tain, slept soundly until the 
chattering of a magpie over- 
head awoke him, just as Pike's 
Peak was being tinged with the 
first gray streak of dawn. Day- 
break in this wild spot, he says, 
was beautiful in the extreme. 
" While the deep gorge in 
which I lay was still buried in 
perfect gloom, the mountain- 
tops loomed gray and indis- 
tinct from out the morning 





ALoNq 



THE 



(d:W.^i:Mii:iMn?l.l:Mlh^_ 



>w 




r 



mist. A faint glow of light broke over 
the ridge, which shut out the valley 
from the east, and spreading over the 
sky first displayed the snow-covered 
peak, a wreath of vapory mist encir- 
cling it, which gradually rose and dis- 
appeared. Suddenly the dull white on 
its summit glowed with light like burnished silver; 
and at the same moment the whole eastern sky blazed 
'as it were in gold, and ridge and peak, catching the effulgence, 
glittered with the beams of the rising sun, which at length, peeping 
over the crest, flooded at once the valley with its dazzling light." 

These passages were written in 1847; t)ut, except the beads and 
wampum, and other Indian "signs," the valley of the fountains re- 
mains in much the same condition as then, save the intrusion of the 
bath house and the inn, the rustic bridge, the cozy arbor, and other 
tokens of civilization. The glories of the dawn are the same; the 
sun, as of yore, peeps over the crest of the eastern ridge and floods 
the vale with his glory; but the monotonous chant of the war dance 
no longer mingles with the song of the laughing water. The chant 
is ended — but sweeter echoes float on the voluptuous air, for now 
the pleasing symphonies of the modern orchestra are responded to by 
beauty, culture and chivalry, in the stately quadrille or the enchant- 
ing waltz, and lofty halls open their portals to the gay and joyous. 
The vale of Manitou, where the gallant Ruxton enjoyed his lone 
rambles, is the vale of Manitou still; and Pike's Peak looks down into 
the gorge, or out over the plain, not on bands of roving marauders, 
but on the toilers of civilization; and the whoop of the savage, silent 
forever, no longer taints the breeze. The anthem of industry brings 
means and facilities of enjoyment, and makes provision, not only for 
subsistence and comfort, but for the restoration to health, and the 
refined pleasures of an advanced 
citizenship. 

The springs of Manitou possess 
the added charm of a masterly 
setting. Pike's Peak, the unfailing land^ 
mark and beacon to the Argonauts who 
crossed the Great American Desert in quest 




LAST CLIMB ON THT COG WHEEL ROUTE 



of the Golden Fleece, the peer of all the giant gems which stud the 
mountain rosary, grandly and fitly presides over the mountain land- 
scape, defying the thunders, battling the storms, or smiling through 

an atmosphere the purest 
and most pellucid onearth, 
the reflected rays of the 
genial sun. A subjacent 
roterie of inferior peaks, 
\Ionta Rosa, Rhyolite, 
(Cameron's Cone, Garfield 
.md Cheyenne, rugged and 
L,M-and, each stupendous 
and imposing if alone, but 
dwarfed and humili- 
ated in the presence 
of the superior, am- 
plify and complete a 
F- picture which 

is without a 
parallel in na- 
ture. Mr. F. P. 
Stevens, the 
well- known 
'f artist, has pre- 
pared and elabo- 
rated a double- 
negative view of 
"Sunrise from Pike's 
Peak," which by per- 
mission adorns the title 
cover of this publication. 
The picture has been ex- 
tensively commented upon by 
artists and critics not thoroughly 
familiar with the locality, their 
judgment being that it is overdrawn 
and not entirely true to nature. Mr. 
Stevens insists that the scene has been faithfully 




WAGON TRAIL, UTE PASS 




and the 



treated and that the coloring is not extrava- 
gant. The discussion on this point has 
induced many persons to spend a night 
on the Peak in order to enjoy the charm 
and glory of the sunrise, and the unfailing 
opinion prompted by this experience has been 
' that the reproduction by Mr. Stevens is faultless 

in detail and true in color. 
Of Manitou proper it is only necessary to add that it is a city 
of 2,000 inhabitants, the number being greatly augmented during the 
summer. It is an airy, fairy municipality, almost hidden in the 
spirit-guarded hills. There are winding driveways, beautiful lawns, 
rustic bridges, delightful groves, picturesque pavilions and handsome 
cottages. The hotels are numerous and admirable and guests are 
well cared for at reasonable rates. Some of them would be credit- 
able to the largest cities, others are less pretentious, so that all desires 
in this respect may be suited without extortion in any case. The 
social' features of the resort are in no way neglected and the usual 
amusements and gayeties are amply and hospitably provided, 

around riDanttou* 

Within and immediately surrounding Manitou the beauties of 
scenery cluster and crowd each other. A lovely mountain stream 
meanders with erratic symmetry through spacious parks, beneath 
overhanging boughs and rustic bridges, while the foothills, ever 
green with pine and spruce foliage, roll gently backward or tower 
in pinnacles all around. 

Engleman's Glen, into whose ponderous jaws the little city is fast 
encroaching, is a poem of loveliness, the 
ideal of the most inspired painter's 
desires. Through it rushes Rux- 
ton Creek in most riotous fash- 
ion, as if in haste to join the 
waters of the Fontaine qui 
Bouille below. 

To the north of east opens 
the Ute Pass, the ancient 
route of the savage from the 




THE GOOD OLD WAY. 




mountains to Manitou and the 
plains, and the defile which 
swarmed with freighters during 
the early mining days. In the 
pass — which is a narrow and pre- 
cipitous canon — and close to the 
borders of Manitou, is Rainbow 
Falls, the water of the Fontaine 
qui Bouille rushing straight down- 
ward into a dark and yawning 
chasm, and churning itself to 
foam and spray, upon which the 
first ray of the morning sun 
spreads the token of 
peace. A stairway leads 
from the road to the basin 
of the falls, by which visitors 
may descend and bask in the outer 
Balanced rock, spray which the rays of the forenoon sun 

GARDEN OF THE GODS, couvcrt luto 3. brilliant and perfect rainbow. 
Williams' Canon, one of the most remarkable and interesting 
features of the entire region, opens to the north of Manitou. It is not 
only very narrow, steep and deep, but its walls show a strange com- 
mingling of totally heterogeneous varieties of stone, which puzzle the 
scientist and evoke wonder and admiration from all. This canon also 
leads to the entrance to the Cave of the Winds, a curiously wrought 
product of some strange interior force working with cascades and 
crystal. 

The Manitou Grand Cavern is reached via Ute Pass at a distance 
of two miles from the city. Its dimensions are almost appalling in 
extent and sublimity, including rooms hundreds of feet in length and 
height, of the most bewildering natural architecture. Here are found 
innumerable stalactites and stalagmites, and delicate and fantastic 
garniture, formed by the action of water upon lime and calcite. One 
of the principal wonders is the Grand Organ of Musical Stalactites. 
It is formed of broad, thin and highly reverberative stalactites, 
tuned by nature to an almost perfect gamut, and being played upon 
after the manner of a zylophone, gives forth rich, clear and thrilling 



12 




GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE 



'/^' 




tones. Adjacent to Manitou, and not to 
be missed in justice by any visitor to 
Colorado, is that strange formation, 
the Garden of the Gods. Perhaps no 
American writer of recent times has 
pictured Colorado scenery so lovingly, 
so truthfully, and with such finished 
taste, as Ernest Ingersoll. He owns quite frankly 
that an accurate description of this "ruinous perfec- 
almost hopeless. In "The Crest of the Continent" he 
says: 

"There is the Garden of the Gods, hidden behind those garish 
walls of red and yellow sandstone, so dark and out of place in 
the soberly toned landscape that they travesty Nature, convert- 
ing the whole picture into a theatrical scene, and a highly spectac- 
ular one at that. 

" Passing behind the sensational walls, one is not surprised to find 
a sort of gigantic peep-show in pantomine. The solid rocks have 
gone masquerading in every sort of absurd costume and character. 
The colors of the make-up, too, are varied from black through all 
the browns and drabs to pure white, and then again through yellows 
and buffs and pinks up to staring red. Who can portray adequately 
these odd forms of chiseled stone? 

"The impression is of something mighty, unreal, and supernatural; 
of the Gods, surely, but the Gods of the Norse Walhalla, in some of 
their strange outbursts of wild rage or uncouth playfulness. The 
beauty-loving divinities of Greece and Rome could have nothing in 
common with such sublime awkwardness. Jove's ambrosial curls 
must shake in another Olympia than this. Weird and grotesque, 
but solemn and awful at the same time, as if one stood on the con- 
fines of another world and soon the veil would be rent which divided 
them. Words are worse than useless to attempt such a picture. 
Perhaps, if one could live in the shadow of its savage grandeur for 
months until his soul was permeated, language would begin to find 
itself flowing in proper channels, but in the first stupor of astonish- 
ment one must only hold his breath. The garden itself, the holy of 
holies, as most fancy, is not so overpowering to me as the vast out- 
lying wildness. 



"To pass in between massive portals of rock, of brilliant terra- 
cotta red, and enter on a plain, miles in extent, covered in all direc- 
tions with magnificent isolated masses of the same striking color, 
each lifting itself against the wonderful blue of a Colorado sky with 
a sharpness of outline that would shame the fine cutting of an etch- 
ing; to find the ground under your feet, over the whole immense sur- 
face, carpeted with the same rich tint, underlying arabesques of green 
and gray, where grass and mosses have crept; to come upon masses 
of pale, velvety gypsum, set now and again as if to make more effec- 
tive by contrast the deep red which strikes the dominant chord of 
the picture; and always, as you look through or above, to catch the 




FIRST VIEW OF PIKE'S PEAK FROM ROCK ISLAND ROUTE. 

stormy billows of the giant mountain range, tossed against the sky, 
with the regal, snow-crowned massiveness of Pike's Peak rising over 
all, is something, once seen, never to be forgotten. 

"Strange, grotesque shapes, mammoth caricatures of animals 
clamber, crouch or spring from vantage points hundreds of feet in 
air. Here a battlemented wall is pierced by a round window; there 
a cluster of slender spires lift themselves; beyond, a leaning tower 
slants through the blue air, or a cube as large as a dwelling house is 
balanced on a pivot-like point at the base, as if a child's strength 
could upset it. Imagine all this, scintillant with color, set under a 
dazzling sapphire dome, with the silver stems and delicate frondage 
of young cottonwoods in one space, or a strong young hemlock 




lifting green symmetrical arms from some 
\\olX ^^'^h rocky cliff in another. This can be 

Sil/' and the told; but the massiveness of sky-piled 

^rf^O^OtaipS masonry, the almost infernal mixture of 
grandeur and grotesqueness, are beyond 
expression. After the first few moments of 
wild exclamation one sinks into an awed silence. 
The reader must see for himself these grotesque monu- 
ments, these relics of ruined strata, these sportive, wind-cut ghosts 
of the old regime, these fanciful images of things seen and unseen, 
which stand thickly over hundreds of acres like the mouldering ruins 
of some half-buried city of the desert, if he would fully understand." 
Ten miles from Manitou, or about four miles southwest of Colo- 
rado Springs, and reached either by carriage or electric railway, are 
the Cheyenne Canons, known respectively as the North and South 
Canons. These are stupendous gorges which untold ages have cut 
in the solid granite, whose stately walls rise perpendicularly from 
1,000 to 1,500 feet. Between these walls, which in places are only a 
pebble-toss apart, dash sparkling mountain streams. The main por- 
tion of the South Canon is about three-quarters of a mile long, at the 
end of which the visitor encounters a frowning rock wall down which 
the stream plunges in a series of beautiful cascades, known as the 
Seven Falls. The level of the topmost of the falls can be reached 
by a stairway constructed on the rock wall of the canon, from 
which point superb views are gained of the canon itself and of the 
plains beyond. 

North Cheyenne Canon, the entrance to which is found about a 
quarter of a mile further north, may be traversed by carriage for a 
distance of two miles or more. This canon abounds in waterfalls and 
cascades, and while its walls are not quite as lofty as those of the South 
Canon, they are more varied in form and coloring. Beautiful, pictur- 
esque, and altogether novel, are these mighty gorges, inspiring the 
most enthusiastic admiration of all beholders. In the summer they 
are a mass of leafy bloom, odorous with the mingled scent of the 
pines and the blossom-laden trees. 

A carriage road climbs the slopes of Cheyenne Mountain on its 
way to the Seven Lakes and Pike's Peak, affording magnificent views 
of the plains and the city and of the mountain fastnesses which it 



15 



afterward penetrates. The distance to the summit of the peak by 
the Cheyenne Mountain road is twenty-two miles, the Seven Lakes, 
five miles from the summit, affording a most interesting and com- 
fortable place to spend the night. Many prefer this route to the peak 
because of its varied and magnificent scenery. 

Manitou and Colorado Springs are connected by railroads, carriage 
drives, and an electric line, the latter system extending also to Chey- 
enne Canon. Another line of well-equipped electric railroad winds 
through the principal thoroughfare of Manitou, and transports passen- 
gers to and from the cog-wheel railroad station at Engleman's Canon. 

Other admirable resorts within a short journey from Manitou are 
Cascade, Ute Park, Green Mountain Falls, Woodland Park and Mani- 
tou Park, and a summer's trip may be extended at will to such inter- 
esting places as Buena Vista, Leadville, Florence, Cripple Creek, 
Aspen, Glenwood Springs, Palmer Lake, Idaho Springs, Georgetown 
and dozens more. An incidental trip to Denver, the capital and largest 
city of the state, ought not to be omitted by the tourist, and the same 
may be said of Pueblo, an important mining and commercial center. 

(^olora^o Springe* 

At the foot of Pike's Peak, still 6,000 feet above the sea, lies Colo- 
rado Springs, one of the largest and certainly one of the most beauti- 
ful cities in Colorado. It is not only popular as a resort for tourists, 
but is an attractive business and residence point. The city is noted 
for its elegant homes, fine business blocks and clean, shady streets, 
with spacious public squares and parks, all kept in excellent con- 
dition. Its educational facilities are of the highest character, as 
attested by its numerous and costly public school buildings and the 

Colorado College. Two of 
the principal state institu- 
tions are located here, also 
the Childs-Drexel home 
for veteran printers. 

All the attractions of 
plains and hills are to be 
readily attained at Colo- 
rado Springs. Tourists in 
carriages, on horseback, or 




16 



MANITOU TERMINAL -COG ROAD. 





sometimes mounted on the meek and 
innocent burro, may each morning be 
seen starting out for one of the many 
points of exploration, returning later 
in the day laden with the floral and 
mineral trophies of the canon and 
mountain side. The city has twenty-five 
miles of electric railway, a natural water supply, 
^. , electric light plants and all the advantages of the most 

'^progressive eastern community. The tourist who makes his head- 
quarters at Colorado Springs can spend many weeks in sight-seeing, 
visiting each day a new locality, without any diminution of interest 
and pleasure. On the route to the Cheyenne Canon the electric line 
and carriage drive pass the grounds of Broadmoor Casino, a noted 
pleasure retreat, where the surfeit of mountain experiences may be 
agreeably overcome by a sail on the lake or the more vigorous diver- 
sions of court and field. 

lPike'0 peak. 

Pike's Peak is, par excellence, the historic mountain of the great 
Sierra Madre System — the first of the family to which the "speech 
of England," as Bryant phrases it, hath given a name. Zebulon 
Montgomery Pike, the skillful and daring explorer, the first to carry 
the flag to that region, caught sight of the mountain top the 15th of 
November, 1806, when, as noted in his journal, it "appeared like a 
small, blue cloud." On the 17th, he "marched at the usual hour, 
pushed with the idea of arriving at the mountains, but found at night 
no visible difference in their appearance from yesterday." And 
again, the 25th, he " marched early with expectation of ascending 
the mountain, but was only able to camp at its base." Major Pike 
and his men no doubt wondered that the march was so long to what 
seemed to be so near; and many a 
toiling pilgrim in the subsequent 
days of golden dreams, heartsick, 
perhaps, with hope deferred, ex- 
perienced the same wonder. 
But we now understand the 
remarkable transparency of the 




17 



CLIMBING SON-OFA-GUN HILL. 



atmosphere, so high above the level of tidewater; and we are no 
longer surprised that the old peak, so near to the vision, is yet 
so distant to the footstep. As we look at it, even from an approach- 
ing car, it seems to be just beyond that swell on the plain, and 
that if we had a smart pony we could almost canter over to it 
and back while the engine takes water; but it is in realty many 
miles away. 

It is well known that Pike's narrative covers two expeditions; 
one, by the authority of the president, from St. Louis to the head- 
waters of the Mississippi, in 1805-6; the other, under orders from 
General Wilkinson, the commander-in-chief, through Louisiana Terri- 
tory to Mexico, in 1 806-7. The first of these expeditions, as well as 
the contemporaneous Lewis and Clark expedition, was part of a 
general plan of President Jefferson, to take stock of his new purchase 
of half a continent; and the second, although not ordered by the 
president, was approved by him, and had, in the main, the same 
object. The newly extended boundaries were to be brought out 
of the realm of conjecture into that of fact, and the Indian tribes 
were to be attached more closely to the national government. On 
the northern adventure, the British traders of the Northwest Fur 
Company, who had entered into trade relations with our Indians and 
encroached somewhat upon our political prerogatives, were to be 
met; in the southwest, the Spaniards who were intriguing from Santa 
F6 were to be checkmated. Pike performed both missions with 
much intrepidity and tact, although the personal outcome of the first 
was more fortunate than of the second. In both cases, launching 
forth with a handful of soldiers into a practically unknown wilder- 
ness, he endured physical ills as great ?s fall to the lot of most 
Arctic explorers. From the first journey he returned with laurels 
after eight months; from the second he was sent back as a prisoner 
at the hands of the Governor of New Spain. 

The indomitable Fremont was at the base of Pike's Peak in July, 
1843, on his outward trip across the continent; and on his return 
from the Pacific, in 1844, was again in view of the mountain. Me 
visited the springs in 1843, ^"d gives a glowing account of the vege- 
tation in the Valley of Fountain Creek, where ipomea leptophylla and 
other charming flowers were in full bloom, and " currants, nearly 
ripe, were abundant." 



f' 



Captain Ruxton, in his narrative already 

fo.ii referred to, says he had " meditated an 

aod the expedition to the summit of Pike's Peak, 

lodOtaipS where mortal foot has never yet trod." 

But he was in error as to the mortal foot. 

Dr. James, attached to the exploring party of 

Col. S. H. Long, in 1820, ascended the peak, and 

he and his two men were no doubt "the first Americans, 

if not the first human beings, who ever stood upon the summit of 

this famous mountain." Col. Long named the mountain James' 

Peak, in honor of the first ascender; but Fremont restored the name 

given it in honor of the first official explorer, and it will be Pike's 

Peak forever. 

During the past dozen or more years the number of adventurous 
tourists who have braved the hardships of a journey to Pike's Peak 
has reached many thousands, and the trip forms a well-defined notch 
in the events of a lifetime. From that ethereal summit a view of 
such unapproached magnificence is obtained that the brain is dazed 
by the vastness of vision, and the eye can there convey to the soul a 
suggestion of the infinite. For a long time the principal route was 
a horse trail through Engleman's Glen and Ruxton Canon, and hug- 
ged closely the rollicking, rushing Ruxton, through scenery of unsur- 
passed wildness and beauty. The trail is still there, but a new epoch 
is on in the history of travel to the peak. The Manitou & Pike's 
Peak Railway is completed, and is a success. It took brains and 
courage to conceive of so unusual and enormous an enterprise, and 
it took energy and indomitable pluck and unlimited capital to con- 
summate it. The road has no counterpart on the western hemis- 
phere, and, in point of elevation overcome and maximum of elevation 
attained, is the most remarkable in the world. 

Mrs. Catherine Cole gives the following graphic description of 
the view from the summit of the peak: " It is not very comfortable 
walking about on the top of the peak. It is bitter cold — the peak 
one mass of stones — but the view is unrivaled. Manitou looks like 
a lady's lace handkerchief tossed down below the mountains. And 
out on the plains, Colorado Springs, with its wide, even streets, 
looked like a chess-board, and the fine Queen Anne Hotel and other 
aesthetic buildings seen through a powerful glass, might not inaptly 




N THE BRECKENRIDGE RANGE. 



be termed the 
castles and pawns. 
The Spanish Peaks, in New Mexico, full 200 miles away, stood out in 
great hazy blue shadows against the dazzling sky and the western 
horizon was marked by the Snowy Range, one of the most beautiful 
and picturesque chains of the Rocky Mountains, lying like a tumbled 
mass of purple clouds, dappled and flecked with snow-white. Here 
and there little towns could be easily distinguished by the steam-like 
smoke hovering over them, and Denver, to the north, nearly lOO 
miles, was also visible." 

The physical features of the mountains, both at Manitou and 
beyond, are of great interest and furnish a delightful change from the 
ordinary attractions of a summer outing. The Continental Range 
crosses the state nearly north and south, near its center. Here the 
Rocky Mountains attain their greatest elevation — 200 peaks nearly 
13,000 feet high, and about twenty-five peaks from 14,000 to 14,400 
feet high, being visible from eligible points. The chain is about 120 
miles broad, consisting of three parallel ranges, running nearly north 
northwest. The east one, called the Front, as the visitor approaches 
appears to rise abruptly from the plains, stretching with snow-clad 
summits from Pike's Peak on the south, to a group twenty miles 



20 




north of Long's Peak, a distance of 120 
miles. Six of its peaks— Long's Peak, 
Mount Torrey, Gray's Peak, Mount 
Rosalie, Mount Evans and Pike's 
Peak, arc from 14,000 to 14,340 feet 
high — the latter altitude belonging to 
Mount Rosalie. Sierra Blanca, in the 
Sangre de Cristo range, is the highest peak in the 
state, having an altitude of 14,464 feet. Some of the most 
■productive gold and silver mines of the state are easily reached from 
Manitou or Colorado Springs, and a glimpse of the great Cripple 
Creek district may be had from the summit of Pike's Peak, on the 
southwest slope, or at convenient points along the mountain road. 

fiDanttou a pike's peak 1Ratlwa\>- 

The first cogwheel railroad ever invented was in operation in 1812 
from Leeds, England, to the Middleton coal pits, on a maximum 
ascent of one foot in fifteen. The first attempt to adopt the cog- 
wheel system in the United States was made on the Madison & Indi- 
anapolis Railroad in 1847, ^or a maximum gradient of one foot in 
seven, but the plan was only partially successful. In 1866 Sylvester 
Marsh broke ground for the construction of the Mount Washington 
Road, which was completed in 1869 and has been operated steadily 
ever since. Following Mr. Marsh's experiment it was decided in 
1868 to adopt the rack and pinion system over the Alps, on a grade 
of one foot in every twenty feet of track. 

To Mr. Roman Abt, of Switzerland, is due the honor of having 
invented the perfect rack-rail system. It consists of two rack bars 
or rails, instead of one, bolted together and operated simultaneously 
as one rail, the bars being so arranged that, 
while no two cogs enter the notches sim- 
ultaneously, several cogs have a bearing 
at the same time, thus insuring a con- 
tinuous, easy motion, without jar or 
noise; and, as each cog-rail is independ- 
ent, the breaking of one would not inter- 
fere in the least with the operation of 
the others, and thus safety is assured. 



>'W 






21 



PIKF'S PEAK PINNACLE. 



The traveler who now makes the ascent of Pike's Peak in comfort 
by its wonderful railway, does not appreciate the amount of study 
devoted to the difficult problem by the best engineers and mechan- 
ics, or the perils or hardships attending the survey and construction 
of the road. Camping out, climbing over mountains covered with 
fallen timber and jagged rocks, the occasional intense cold, terrible 
snowstorms, fearful winds and the difificulty of getting provisions, 
made this undertaking hazardous almost beyond conception. The 
first project for building a railroad to Pike's Peak's summit took form 
in 1884, when work was commenced and nearly eight miles graded 
for a line which was intended to reach that point by a circuitous route 
thirty miles in length, with a 5 per cent, maximum gradient; but ow- 
ing to insufficient financial support, occasioned by adverse opinions 
as to the ultimate success of the scheme, the work was abandoned. 

The feasibility of the Manitou & Pike's Peak Railway, as now con- 
structed, was decided upon in 1888, and some preliminary surveys 
were made that year. Grading was commenced in 1889, and the 
golden spike driven October 20, 1890. This railway differs in two 
respects from ordinary railroads; first, in the very heavy gradient, 
which, in a few feet less than nine miles, overcomes an elevation of 
7,518 feet; second, the system of Abt rack and rail used, which forms 
a continuous double ladder, into which the toothed wheels of the 
locomotive work. The roadbed, which is from fifteen to twenty-two 
feet in width, is most substantial, being cut from or built upon solid 
rock in many places. There is no trestle work whatever; the four 
short bridges on the line are of iron resting on solid masonry. To 
prevent the moving or sliding of the track, which is within the dim 
shade of possibility, owing to its enormous weight and the effect of 
varying temperature upon iron and steel, 146 anchors are imbedded 
into this solid rock or masonry at distances of from 200 to 1,400 feet 
apart, according to the grade. 

The common "T" are the ordinary rails used, and they are laid 
to standard gauge. The office of the rails is to carry the weight and 
guide the train, all the pushing force being exerted upon the rack 
rails. These rack rails are made from the best adapted Bessemer 
steel, the teeth having been cut from the solid piece by machines 
especially constructed for the purpose. They are 80 inches long, 
and vary in weight from 21 to 31}^ pounds per foot, the heaviest 

22 




one being used on the steepest grades. So 
particular were the constructors that the 
Q^"^ and the contract for making these rails required 
lo^OtaipS that each tooth be within the fiftieth 
i of an inch of the specified size. This 

necessity of detail characterized the work 
throughout. In the center of the track is the 
rack ladder, which is formed by two rack rails set 
15/^ inches apart, which are firmly held by four bolts (two in the 
center and one at either end), to three die-forged chairs, which in 
turn are securely fastened to the extra long and heavy ties. The 
rack rails are laid so as to break joints, and the teeth are also 
staggered, thus giving the two double wheels of the locomotive 
practically an even bearing at all times. The exact length of 
the road is 47,992 feet, and the average grade is 16 per cent., 
or 844.8 feet to the mile. The maximum grade is 25 per cent., 
and the sharpest curves are 16 degrees, or a curve with a radius 
of 359 feet. 

The present equipment of the road consists of four locomotives 
and six passenger coaches. The locomotives, built by the Baldwin 
Locomotive Works, of Philadelphia, are of the four-cylinder Vau- 
clain compound pattern; the high and low-pressure cylinders are 
9 and 15 inches in diameter, respectively, and 22-inch stroke. The 
steam pressure carried in the boiler is 200 pounds. Each engine is 
provided with two double steel cogwheels, through which the power 
is applied; extending from the side of these wheels are four corru- 
gated surfaces, upon which the powerful steam and hand brakes do 
their work. Either of these brakes is sufficiently powerful to stop 
the locomotive and train. The steam cylinders are also fitted with 
the Le Chatlier water brake, and are utilized on the downward jour- 
ney as air compressors to regulate the speed of the train. The 
coaches are luxurious and largely of glass to facilitate observation; 
each has seating capacity for 50 persons, and the seats are so 
arranged that passengers will at all times have a level sitting. 

The cars are fitted with two separate pinion brakes, which can 
be operated from either end, and each is sufficiently powerful to 
hold the car. The locomotive pushes the car in ascending and pre- 
cedes it when descending, thus giving perfect control over the car. 



23 



which, not being coupled to the locomotive, can be let down inde- 
pendently. Everything has been done to guarantee the absolute 
safety of passengers. 

Having achieved the summit, the whole world, apparently, is 
now before us; and rare, indeed, would be the art that could picture 
to the soul, unaided by the sense of sight, the unapproachable mag- 
nitude of the view that greets the bewildered eye. Spread out before 
us is a mighty panorama of 40,000 square miles. To the east is a 
gay confusion of buffalo plains, streams, and flowering fields, dotted 
over with villages and cities. Colorado Springs, Manitou and the 
Garden of the Gods are at our feet, and look like flower beds. To 
the south are Seven Lakes, the Raton Mountains of New Mexico 
and the famous Spanish Peaks; the cities of Pueblo, Florence, Cailon 
City, Altman, the highest mining town in Colorado, and the highest 
railroad point in the world; Cripple Creek and Bull Hill appear to 

be but a stone's throw dis- 
tant, and the various mines, 
settlements,cabins and busy 
railways are plainly seen. 
To the west, protruding its 
glistening crest above the 
clouds, is the Sangre de 
Cristo Range, spreading out 
its sheet of perpetual snow 
and freshening the air that 
you greet with the vigor it 
stimulates; Buffalo, Blan- 
ca, Ouray, Harvard, Yale, 
Princeton, Holy Cross, and 
Elbert peaks are in this 
direction, at distances vary- 
ing from 60 to 150 miles. 
To the north are the abyss; 
Gray's and Long's peaks, 
the farthest north of any 
we see in the Continental 
Divide, and Denver, Castle 
Rock and Manitou Park. 




RAINBOW FALLS. 




GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE 



kV 




Few men, comparatively, know the sensa- 
tion of looking from a mountain top 
over thousands of miles of the earth's 
surface. To those who have realized 
this sensation it affords an indelible 
recollection; one of the cherished ex- 
periences of a lifetime. The Cogwheel 
Route affords to many thousands an opportunity 
to gain this experience, an opportunity which otherwise 
'they would never enjoy, if only those physical aristocrats who have 
superior development in limbs and lungs were permitted to mount 
above the clouds and stand "close to the sun in lonely lands." The 
Pike's Peak Railroad reduces all men to a level in ability to enjoy 
this pleasure. Without any physical exertion, without risk of any 
kind, anyone able to travel in a railway car can be lifted up to the 
strange region of clouds and storms, and for a few hours exist in 
the heart of eternal desolation. 

To the commonplace man this trip is like living a chapter from 
one of Jules Vernes' romances. He meets no antediluvian monsters, 
to be sure, but he visits scenes where these can be easily imagined. 
Whatever susceptibility to grand impressions, whatever poetic fan- 
cies the dullest mind may have, are sure to be aroused and promoted 
by this experience. 

The barometer on the summit of Pike's Peak stands at about 17 
inches, and water boils at 184 degrees Fahrenheit. Is it wonderful 
that the human body and the human mind, in these new conditions, 
should manifest new feelings? 

The United States Signal Station buildings (the highest observa- 
tory in the country), are of interest. The first building, erected in 
1876, the scene of the late Sergeant O'Keefe's sorrow, and which 
afforded the first signal officers shelter, is quite small, and was aban- 
doned in 1882 for the more commodious stone house built in that 
year under the direction of Chief Signal Officer, Gen. Wm. R. Hazen. 
We may all go up, possibly, some day; for expeditions to the peak 
are now on the regular programme at Manitou, for the amusement 
and edification of visitors. The height above the sea is nearly three 
times that of Mount Washington ; and the view, over the mountains on 
three sides, and over vast plains on the fourth, is beyond description. 



25 



At last, sur- 
mounting all ob- 
stacles, the loco- 
motive is in front 
of the peak; but 
as serenely as in 
the longago.the 
old mountain 
lifts his snowy 
cope against the 
infinite blue. 
The towns, the farms, 
SUMMIT HOUSE. even the railway itself — they 

seem but toys scattered at his feet. Man has invaded the wilderness 
and erected his temples; but he and his works are dwarfed by the 
majestic surroundings; and he cannot, if he would, impair the grand- 
eur and sublimity of the scene. These will remain for his kind to 
enjoy through all time. 




a Sample Stbe ^rtp. 

From the Manitou standpoint it is possible to embrace within an 
hour many of the glories of the Rocky Mountain region, but not all 
of them. Several days of rapid riding will be required for a compre- 
hensive view and an adequate study, and this chance is daily afforded 
by the several railroads concentrating at Denver, Pueblo, Colorado 
Springs and Manitou. From either of these points a journey may be 
undertaken which, in its progress, will comprise more noted and 
magnificent scenery than any other trip of similar length in the 
known world. 

A fair sample of these side trips is that to the Grand Canon of 
the Arkansas, which, in its narrowest portion, is known as the Royal 
Gorge. When first examined it seemed impossible that a railroad 
could ever be built through this stupendous hollow. In time, how- 
ever, the existing obstructions were blasted away, a roadbed closely 
following the contour of the cliffs was made, and to-day the canon 
is a well-used thoroughfare. But its grandeur still remains. After 
entering its depths, the train moves along the side of the Arkansas, 



26 




v^^^i 



Ix 



and around projecting shoulders of dark- 
hued granite, deeper and deeper into the 

Mn/JntalnS ^^^'^^ °^ ^^^ range. The crested crags 
J grow higher, the river madly foams along 

its rocky bed, and anon the way becomes 
a mere fissure through the heights. Far 
above the road the sky forms a deep blue arch 
of light, but in the gorge hang dark and sombre shades 
which the sun's rays have never illuminated. The place is a meas- 
ureless gulf of air, with solid walls on either side. 

Escaping from the gorge, the narrow valley of the upper Arkan- 
sas is traversed, with the striking serrated peaks of the Sangre de 
Cristo Range close at hand. Leaving Poncha Springs on the left, the 
line climbs into a narrowing but verdant valley running down between 
low-browed hills, and begins to scale the heights of Marshall Pass, 
the wonderful pathway over the Continental Divide. The grades at 
first are only moderately steep. Soon, however, the hills merge in- 
to mountains and press more closely together. Looking up at the 
distant summit, there is seen a nar- 
row rim of earth which marks the 
onward course of the road. The 
prospect broadens, and soon the 
valley lies far below. Now the as- 
cent begins in earnest. Two sturdy 
engines toil and pant, the curves 
are sharp and frequent, banks of 
snow and tangled masses of half- 
dead forests, with fallen trees and 
others bent by the fierce winds, are 
on every side. 

The summit is more than 10,000 
feet above sea level. Looking ahead, 
Mount Ouray is seen, bare, eternal 
and high above its mates. Away in 
the distance rise the long-continued 
heights of the great range, white with 
everlasting snow crests. Below, an( 
doubling back and forth, are the looj 



27 




PS^'t? 



THE NARROWS— WILLIAMS CANON. 



of the road leading to the valley. They disappear within the forest 
but are seen again far down the narrow vale. The descent begins, 
and the road winds around projecting headlands, on the verge of 
vast precipices, treads dark recesses, follows the windings of Tomichi 
Creek, and later courses through cultivated meadows dotted with 
haystacks and small ranch houses. As the train rolls swiftly on, a 
backward glance gives the traveler a comprehensive idea of the vast 
heights overcome in the passage. 

Still following the river, the grayish cliffs suddenly grow higher 
and steeper, the vegetation is legs abundant, and almost without 
warning the sunlight is cut off by broken summits, and the Black 
Cailon of the Gunnison is seen, longer, deeper and darker than the 
other. The Black Canon never becomes tiresome or commonplace. 
Here a waterfall starts from a dizzy height, is dashed into fragments 
by lower terraces, and tossed by the winds, until it reaches the river 
in fine white spray; yonder another cataract leaps clear of the walls, 
and thunders unbroken upon the ground. In the cliffs are smaller 
streams, which trickle down and are lost in the river below. 

At times the cafion narrows, and is full of sharp curves, but again 
has long, wide stretches, which enable one to study the steep crags 
that tower heavenward two or three thousand feet. Currecanti 
Needle, the most abrupt and isolated of these pinnacles, has all the 
grace and symmetry of a Cleopatra obelisk. It is red hued from 
point to base, and stands like a grim sentinel, ever watchful of the 
canon's solitudes. 

Sombre shades prevail; the streams fill the place with heavy roars, 
and the sunlight falls upon the topmost pines, but never reaches 
down the dark red walls. Huge boulders lie scattered about; fitful 
winds sweep down the deep clefts; nature has created everything 
on a grand scale; detail is supplanted by magnificence, and the place 
is one appealing to the deepest emotions of the thoughtful observer. 
With all the skill and discrimination of an artist that distinguished 
traveler. Bayard Taylor, has contributed a faithful and vivid descrip- 
tion of another of the incomparable scenes of the mountain terri- 
tory, in which he writes: 

"The view of the Rocky Mountains from the divide near Kiowa 
Creek is considered one of the finest in Colorado. From the breezy 
ridge, between scattered groups of pine, you look upon one hundred 



28 




GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE 



k... 




and fifty miles of snowy range from the 
Sangre de Cristo to the spurs away 
toward Laramie. In variety and har- 
mony of form, in effect against the 
dark blue sky, in breadth and grand- 
eur, I know of no external picture of 
the Alps which can be placed beside it. 
p If you could take away the Valley of the Rhone, 

and unite the Alps of Savoy with the Bernese Oberland, 
you might attain a tolerable idea of the Rocky Mountains. Pike's 
Peak would then represent the Jungfrau; a nameless snowy giant in 
front of you, Monte Rosa; and Long's Peak, Mont Blanc. The alti- 
tudes very nearly correspond, and there is a certain similarity in the 
forms. The average height of the Rocky Mountains, however, 
surpasses that of the Alps. 

"Nowhere distorted or grotesque in outline, never monotonous, 
lovely in color and atmospheric effect, I may recall some mountain 
chains which equal but none which surpass them. There appear to 
be three totally distinct ranges. The first rises from two to three 
thousand feet above the level of the plains. It is cloven by the 
canons of the streams, streaked with dark lines of pine which feather 
its summit, and sunny with steep slopes of pasture. Some distance 
behind it appears a second range of nearly double the height, more 
irregular in its masses, and of a dark velvety-violet hue. Beyond, 
leaning against the sky, are the snowy peaks, nearly all of which are 
from thirteen thousand to fifteen thousand feet above the sea. These 
three chains, with their varying but never discordant undulations, are 
as inspiring to the imagination as they are enchanting to the eye." 
A ride by rail up Clear Creek Canon is thus described by another 
gifted writer: 

"As we pass on, the rocks rise higher and yet higher above us. 
We curve around one projecting cliff, in terribly close proximity to 
the slope wall, only to come squarely against another mountain of 
rocks that seems to jut from the other side across our way. We 
make devious windings, we twist, we zigzag, we turn horseshoes, 
forge them nearly into circles; and still rising, are inducted into a 
gallery where rock is piled on rock, a thousand feet at a time, far up, 
projecting over, reaching all about us once more. We have traversed 



29 



six or seven miles of 
the canon from its 
moutli, and reached tlie 
climax of its impos- 
ing grandeur. There 
arise on each side of 
the stream precipices, 
vertical, even overhang- 
ing, 2,000 feet high. 
Looking down the 
caiion we see that rocks 
are piled on rocks in 
equal magnificence. 
They lap by, hiding 
the place of our in- 
gress, while, look- 
ing up the stream, 
we see no place 
whence its waters 
have come, nor 
crevice through 
which we are to 
pursue our way. Half 
way up the rocky walls 
that surround us, yes, 
and here and there 
along their sides, we 
note in succession, sev- 
'"^ eral miniature pastures, 
yellow, pink and blue with 
flowers; and scattered all along 
the cliffs, majestic pines and cedars stand, measuring the height and 
perpendicularity of neighboring rocks. Here and there the show- 
ers, tapped by peaks above, have poured their waters down and 
worn smooth ways along the precipitous ledges. The ever-present 
detritus lies along the stream, formed of masses washed and fallen 
from above. One huge boulder has lodged in the center of the 
creek, where its bed is compressed into exceedingly narrow limits. 




SEVEN FALLS— UTE CANON. 



30 




A stream of terrible impetuosity — generally 
twenty or thirty yards in width — is forced 
and the through two natural sluices, across either 
IO^0i2lil}S of which a non-professional jumper could 
easily leap, were he bold enough to dare 
the rushing current. The result of this con- 
traction is that the waters are ejected from their 
■narrow gorges for five or six yards several feet above 
their natural bed. The savage sublimity of naked rocks, the green 
spots of floral beauty, shut up in unattainable recesses, the roar of 
the rushing waters, the echoes from the cliffs, the cool breeze and 
shadow, the presence of the pines and cedars, all contribute to make 
this particular point one of rare attractiveness." 

Another link in the grand chain of an outing in Colorado, is the 
indispensable daylight trip from Denver over the "Bowknot Loop" 
to Silver Plume and Graymont, an excursion that can be made 
in a few hours. On this ascent 
the railroad crosses and recrosses 
itself at different altitudes until 
the terminus has been reached, well 
up into the clouds. It is one of 
the most wonderful examples of 
engineering skill in the world, and 
the loop journey is greatly favored 
by all tourists. The novelty of a 
railroad track thrown against the 
mountain side in a succession of 
loops like those of a lariat, is one 
not to be left out of account in mak- 
ing up an itinerary of a season's 
sojourn in the silver state. 

Of equal interest and varying 
wonder is the railroad through 
Hagerman Pass, and the great ele- 
vated tunnel. By means of this 
daring piece of railroad construc- 
tion, the passenger can look from 
the car window upon three tracks. 




YUCCA PLANT. 



31 



one above the other on the shelves of the mountain, over which 
his train is about to pass, or he may look from above upon the 
route already pursued. The altitude of the pass is 11,500 feet. 

From Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs or Manitou, a trip of con- 
tinuous interest may be made to Glenwood Springs, in the western 
part of the state — a model all-year-round resort, and one that pos- 
sesses attractions peculiarly its own. The city has a population of 
1,500, and is situated about 5,200 feet above sea level. It has fine 
hotels and a sanitarium and bathing establishment unequaled in the 
United States. More than fifty hot mineral springs boil out of the 
ground, the largest flowing 4,000 gallons of water per minute, filling 
the largest bathing pool in the world, of several hundred feet in 
length, and in which the temperature at different points varies from 
hot to tepid, providing a great range of choice for bathers. A fine 
agricultural and stock country surrounds the city, and in close prox- 
imity are forests of timber, 
beds of coal, and extensive 
quarries of marble and 
stone. Nearly all of the 
hunting parties for the 
White River Plateau and 
Trapper's Lake country 
start from this point in 
search of game, big and 
little; and fish in size and 
quantity to justify any 
honest fisherman's highest 
anticipations. 

Colorado iparks* 

One of the principal 
features of Colorado is her 
system of natural parks. 
They are distributed all 
through the mountain fast- 
nesses of the interior. One 
is delierhted in a mountain 




COG-ROAD TRAIN IN RUXTON CANON. 




GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE 



^-^v- 



ramble to suddenly come upon a bit of 
green, waving meadow, where a rivulet 
slips quietly along between grassy 
banks waving with willows and alder. 
Occasionally a grove of tall, quivering 
aspens rustle their polished leaves to 
the faintest breath, and catch and toss 
the sunlight coquettishly. But the four large 
that constitute "the parks of Colorado" are the 






,£^.-- parks . . ...v^.^ 

«> North, Middle, South, and San Luis 

North Park extends to the northern limit of the territory. 

elevation is too great for 

an exuberant vegetation, 

but game is plenty and the 

streams are full of trout. 

Middle Park, lying below, 

is separated from the North 

by a range of mountains. 

It is just across the great 

backbone of the continent, 

although the snov/y range 

divides itself here, and 

branching off around the 

charming valley, encircles 

it with a crown of ice and 

snow. 

But the grand summit, 

where start the rivers of the 

Atlantic and Pacific from 

the same bleak nurseries,. 

lies east of the Middle 

Park. Three lofty pealrs 

are sentineled near — . 

Long's Peak, at the 

northeast, 14,050 - 

feet; Gray's Peak, at 

the southeast, 14,251 

feet; and Lincoln's Peak 



Its 




THE THREE GRACES. 



at the southwest, 14,000 feet high. The chief attractions here are 
the famous hot mineral springs on Grand River. South Park com- 
municates with North Park; Pike's Peak is stationed at its south, 
and Lincoln's Peak at its northern extremity, while the Snowy 
Range is left on the west. Its streams are tributary to the Arkansas 
and South Platte rivers. The scenery is diversified and the soil 
adapted to agriculture. Nature has here been prodigal of her 
wealth. Everywhere the eye is delighted with the smoothness of 
the valleys and hills, and the picturesque grouping of lakes and 
groves. 

It may well be said that the parks of Colorado constitute one 
of her chief glories. They are not, as might be supposed, small 
areas of level ground closely hemmed in by neighboring hills, and 
beautiful with evergreens and flowers and meandering brooks; on 
the contrary, they are vast territories of country, large enough for 
a principality or a county — even exceeding in dimensions some of 
the most populous states of the Union — and filled from boundary 
to boundary with all that is rugged and grand in nature and nature's 
mysterious work. 




DOUBLE TRACK ERIDGF ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



34 




f5^ ^be 1RocF^^ flDountatn Ximtteb, 

ar)d the 
[odntdiOS ^^' ^^ '^ said, "the apparel doth oft' pro- 
claim the man," so the equipment of a 
modern railway may be said to voice its 
desire to please the traveler, and by well- 
adapted catering to the wants of the public in 
the essentials of luxurious accommodations and 
fast train service, to prove its title to the high benefits of popularity. 
The Rocky Mountain Limited, just added to the regular Colorado 
service of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, embodies to 
the fullest extent these essential features. 

In no field of mechanical endeavor has there been a greater ad- 
vancement within the past twenty years than in that relating to the 
prompt and careful transportation of passengers. The modern 
roadbed resembles that of earlier times, but is not the same. Stone 
and gravel have taken the place of dirt as ballast, and steel rails 
have supplanted those of iron. Even the coaches that were thought 
to be magnificent ten years ago bear no comparison with those now 
in common use, and the difference is still more marked in the gen- 
eral features of train equipment and a,l that pertains to the prudent 
and systematic operation of an important line of railroad. 

At the time of the great Columbian Exposition in Chicago it was 
thought that the highest point of excellence had been touched, and 
the World's Fair trains were pointed to as being marvels in this 
respect. And so they were. But now the Great Rock Island Route 
takes another forward step, by providing for its patrons a fast train 
from Chicago to Colorado Springs and Denver that faithfully repre- 
sents the century's progress in railroad development, combined 
with the skill and judgment of the intelligent American laborer, and 
the best forms of decorative art. 

The Rocky Mountain Limited is intended to fully accommodate the 
increasing travel from interior points to the mountain resorts of the 
west. To meet this demand it is scheduled to make the fastest time 
ever attempted in this field with regularity, ease and security. The 
several trains comprising this new service were built to order with this 
particular purpose in view, and e" crything that knowledge and expe- 
rience can suggest has been utilized in securing both speed and safety. 

35 



Each of the Limited 
trains is composed 
of massive, mod- 
ern cars, of the 
very latest pat- 
tern, and the 
best in material 
and workmanship 
that the Pullman 
factory can con- 
struct. The compos- 
ite car has, in addi- 
tion to a commodious 
baggage room, a libra- 
ry and smoking apart- 
ment for the conveni- 
ence and pleasure of 
passengers, and to re- 
lieve the tedium and 
monotony of a long 
ride in the regular car. The smoking room 
is in reality a delightful club parlor, fur- 
nished with wicker chairs, bookcase, secretary, and tables for 
magazines and newspapers. The library cars are supplied with a 
select list of the latest and best books. 

There are the usual lavatories, toilet rooms, buffet and other 
utilities, all the needs of the traveler being looked after with the 
same care he would receive in the best hotel, and the same cheer 
and hospitality extended with which he would be welcomed at his 
own fireside. Two sections, suitable for social table games, are 
adjuncts to the smoking room, fitted with stationary seats and hand- 
some furnishings. The wide windows are of plate glass, affording 
fine facilities for a passing observation of the country. The interior 
finish of the car is of mahogany and rosewood, in elaborate panels 
and artistic ornamentation. In dimensions the new composite cars 
are seventy feet long by nine fee^ eight inches wide over car body. 




RECLINING CHAIR CAR, 
ROCKY MOUNTAIN LIMITED 



36 




GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE 



r-^' 



Standard Pullman Palace Sleeping Cars 
of new design and the most elegant 
finish are a part of the equipment of 
the Rocky Mountain Limited, and are 
< fitted up with direct reference to the 
f/^ requirements of an agreeable and ex- 
peditious journey to Colorado. The 
^ ' interiors are spacious, luxurious and homelike, 

^... insuring the highest degree of comfort by day and perfect 

rest at night. In their construction every facility was employed to 
render them cool, well ventilated, and thoroughly protected against 
dust and smoke. Each section is a miniature parlor, richly fur- 
nished, artistically draped, and possessing every feature that can 
delight the eye or gratify the most refined taste. The inside finish 
is of highly polished mahogany, with bands of rosewood, handsome 
line decorations and inlaid work of exquisite design. 

All the hangings, carpets, upholstery and ornamentation are of 
the finest fabrics and workmanship, and a general harmony of pat- 
tern and color is preserved with as much effect as is obtained by 
the masters of painting in the production of a beautiful picture. 
The new cars are of twelve sections each, with large and well- 
appointed staterooms, drawing rooms, toilet rooms, and other acces- 
sories of the most convenient arrangement and expensive fitting. 
The cars are built with the new Empire decks, and that style is 
follov/ed in the general treatment of the interior. 

Chair cars of the same general style as the other equipment are 
also given their regular place in the new service, and form one of 
its best and most attractive features. 



In order that the accommodations and service of this train shall 
be complete in every particular, new dining cars have been built for 
its use by the Pullman Company, corresponding in style and finish 
to the sleepers and composite cars which they supplement. The 
dining cars were made according to designs prepared and approved 
by the Rock Island management, and the specifications embodied 
important changes from the ordinary plan so long in vogue, and 



37 



many additional improvements warranted by years of experience, so 
that the new creation is as near perfection as the ingenuity and 
skill of the best designers and builders can devise. 

The cars are sixty-three feet and eight inches long by ten feet 
wide over car body. A large space is devoted to the kitchen, pantry 
and supply departments, which are as compact and desirable in 
arrangement as domestic science can hope for. A wide hallway 
extends along the side to the dining room proper, and here the art 
of the builder was most successfully tested in combining beauty 
with utility. The dining room is commodious and decorated in 
the highest type of art. 

The entrance to the car is by a side door opening from the 
vestibule, thus avoiding the customary passage by way of the open 
kitchen. Electric fans are provided for the further comfort of 
guests, and to augment the system of ventilation. The tables are 
wide and made attractive by the finest of linens, silver, glassware 
and china. 

Everything is neat and orderly, the chairs are mahogany, 
upholstered in blue leather, and of a pattern that gives easy rest 
to the traveler. The workmanship and aecoration thoroughout 
are in harmony with the 
composite cars and sleepers, 
thus giving the whole train a 
uniform appearance, and 
suggesting the idea of a suc- 
cession of beautiful inter- 
communicating rooms, with a 
cheerful company of travel- 
ers enjoying the pleasant jour- 
ney across the great rivers | 
and over the plains through 
the heart of the Nation. 

In offering to the public a 
train of such splendid propor- 
tions and magnificent appear- 
ance it is hardly necessary 




38 



A COZY CORNER IN THE LIBRARY-BUFFET CAR, 
ROCKY MOUNTAIN LIMITED. 




,jt&.a 



to add that its practical purpose and sub- 
^^ stantial character have not been neglected. 

oy and the The cars are of the standard wide vesti- 
lo^OtaipS bule pattern, the vestibules being enclosed 
with plate glass, the sides projecting over 
the steps, thus converting the space between 
the cars into an inviting reception hall, and giving 
free communication throughout the train. The double 
vestibules are joined by strong steel frames, a new device that con- 
tributes not only to the safety but the easy motion of the train. The 
cars are built on six-wheel trucks of the McKee-Fuller steel-tired 
patent, Westinghouse brakes on every wheel, together with National 
hollow brake-beams and National-Miller coupler heads. The train 
throughout is brilliantly lighted. Electric bells and steam heat 
are provided. 

The Rocky Mountain Limited is the handsomest, safest and will 
prove the most popular train ever operated in any part of the west. 
It is scheduled to make the run from Chicago to Denver and Colo- 
rado Springs in twenty- eight hours and thirty minutes. The train 
leaves Chicago at 4.30 o'clock in the afternoon, enabling passengers 
who arrive on the late trains from the east to make close connection, 
and also giving those who 
reach Chicago in the morning 
the benefit of nearly an entire 
business day in the city. 

Leaving Chicago the 
train passes to the southward 
through some of the city's 
loveliest suburbs, and travers- 
ing the beautiful and scenic 
valley of the Illinois River, 
the Mississippi is reached by 
nightfall. 

Then through the great 
State of Iowa to Council 
Bluffs, across the Missouri 44 



SLEEPERS ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN LIMITED. 





River to Omaha, and onward 
to the mountains. A day- 
light trip through Nebraska 
and Kansas brings into view 
the wonderful corn and wheat 
belts of that section, and the 
vast grazing tract that inter- 
venes before the foothills are 
sighted. The whole journey 
is full of interest and instruc- 
tion — an outdoor school of 
DINING CAR— ROCKY MOUNTAIN LIMITED. boundlcss rcsourccs, and an 

object lesson of comprehensive scope. 

The train arrives at Denver or Colorado Springs at 8.00 p. m. 
The trip has practically been accomplished in a day and night, 
which is really the most economical arrangement of time that can 
possibly be made between Chicago and Colorado, as most schedules 
require two nights and a full day on the road. The time card of 
the Rocky Mountain Limited provides for prompt connections at 
important points on the Rock Island System, by means of the many 
auxiliary lines which cover the greater part of the territory between 
Chicago and the mountains. These include a line from Peoria, 
another from Keokuk, the Albert Lea Route from the north, and 
numerous branches on the route of this train. 

The same attention to speed and the comfort and convenience 
of the passenger is maintained in the cast-bomid run of the Rocky 
Mountain Limited, and the time scheduled meets the wants for con- 
nections at prominent cities. Those who will patronize this train 
from Chicago to Colorado will need no incentive to make the return 
trip by the Rock Island, while for passengers whose starting point 
is in Colorado the service cannot but commend itself. 



40 




The Rock Island is foremost in adopting 
any advantage calculated to improve 
speed and give the luxury, safety 
and comfort that popular patronage 
TjTjr , , ijiju i m ■ f I I IJ^ '^ demands. Its equipment is thor- 
ylilT l l l ii'nJHT i lJJIi' l ' IJUPA-^ oughly complete with vestibuled 
- V^ trains, magnificent dining cars, sleep- 

ers and chair cars, all of the most elegant and 
latest improved patterns. 



The ever popular train on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 
Railway, known as " Tke Big- Five," still leaves Chicago daily at 
10.00 p. m. It is scheduled as No. 5, and but one business day is 
used, as the train arrives at Denver, Pueblo or Colorado Springs 
early the second morning. 

The "Rock Island" has become a popular Colorado line and the 
train above referred to is broad vestibuled and carries the "Rock 
Island's" dining-car service. 



To meet the increasing travel in the great trans-Mississippi 
region, the "Rock Island" has established a new train between 
Missouri River points and the mountains, called the ''Colorado 
Flyer" which includes in its equipment Pullman Sleeping Cars and 
free Reclining Chair Cars Kansas City to Colorado Springs, connec- 
tions with which from St. Joseph are made at Topeka, and from 
Omaha at Belleville. 

This train is scheduled to leave Omaha, St. Joseph and Kansas 
City after business hours, and Denver and Colorado Springs arc 
reached before noon. 

The east-bound run of this train is of kindred speed, and, leaving 
Denver and Colorado Springs at 2.15 p.m., it arrives at Missouri 
River cities early next morning. 



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